Week 13 was a tough one for Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins. They went on the road to face off against the San Francisco 49ers and their No. 1 ranked defense. Just like many teams before them, the Dolphins succumbed to what is a ferocious defensive unit.
Despite the 49ers losing starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo early in the game and having to go with Brock Purdy, the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Dolphins fell short. Miami lost the game 33-17 as life was difficult for Tagovailoa in the matchup.
Losing wide receiver Jaylen Waddle for a portion of the game, as he was in and out of the lineup with a leg injury, certainly didn’t make life any easier for Tagovailoa, who was under duress all afternoon. That resulted in his worst performance of the season.
In the afternoon, Tagovailoa completed only 18-of-33 passing attempts, as the 54.6 completion percentage is his lowest in a game this season. That is tied for the third-lowest completion percentage in a game in his career as the 49ers made life hard for him Sunday afternoon.
He did throw for 295 yards, which is the second most that San Francisco has given up this season behind only Patrick Mahomes’ performance in Week 7. Tagovailoa also threw two touchdowns but also had two interceptions and one lost fumble while being sacked three times.
While it was a shaky performance, Tagovailoa is still putting together a very impressive season. As pointed out by NFL on CBS, he still ranks first in multiple stats despite how the game against the 49ers went. Tagovailoa still ranks first in passer rating at 112, passing touchdowns per attempt at 6.6 percent, 9.02 yards per attempt and 13.24 yards per completion.
Even against the vaunted 49ers’ defense, he was able to push the ball downfield at times. His yards gained per pass attempt was his fifth-highest of the season thus far. Coming into the game, the 49ers had also allowed only nine passing touchdowns on the season. That number now sits at 11, nearly half of which are from Tagovailoa and Mahomes, who combined for five.
Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins will look to get back on track in Week 14 when they head back on the road to face Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers in what could be a shootout between two standouts from the 2020 NFL Draft class.
